2 Miss North Carolinas?

Who'd have figured it? After all the hullabaloo about Rebekah Revels, it was the other Miss North Carolina who showed the most skin Sunday. Misty Clymer sashayed across the stage at the welcoming ceremony for Miss America Pageant contestants wearing a navy blue warmup suit, the jacket unzipped to reveal a belly-baring, low-cut, baby-blue blouse.

Revels, the woman whose quest for the crown is in limbo over topless photographs taken by a boyfriend, wore a white hooded sweat shirt and warmup pants. Racy it wasn't, and perhaps just as well.

On this sun-splashed day on the Boardwalk, everyone involved with the Miss America Pageant did their level best to put the spotlight on the contestants, their designer clothes, the beautiful weather – anything to keep it off the two Miss North Carolinas.

But it was like trying to keep seagulls away from a dropped french fry.

"It's terrible, the whole thing," said Theresa Ritz, 68, of Atlantic City, one of about 300 people to watch the ceremony in the Kennedy Plaza amphitheater. "But I say the girl who gave up the crown, she should just back off now. The runner-up, she should be the real Miss North Carolina." Revels, 24, won the crown last June but later resigned under pressure after her ex-boyfriend contacted the Miss America Pageant and told them he had nude photographs of her.

The photos, it was learned later, showed her topless and – according to Revels – were taken by boyfriend Tosh Welch as she changed clothes.

Clymer, 24, who finished as first runner-up in the Miss North Carolina Pageant, was given the crown when Revels resigned.

Revels later went to court to seek reinstatement, and a judge gave her the title back. But the Miss America Organization, which wants Clymer in and Revels out, continued to recognize Clymer until a federal judge ordered that both be treated as Miss North Carolina for the time being.

After a weekend's worth of activities in Philadelphia, the 52 contestants boarded buses Sunday for the one-hour trip east to Atlantic City and the start of two weeks of primping and preparation for the Sept. 21 pageant.

Unlike previous years, the contestants were not made available for media interviews on arrival day. Their schedule, which was made before anyone knew the North Carolina controversy would drag on into the pageant, pushed the interview sessions off until Tuesday.

Pageant security officials and Atlantic City police officers formed a close barrier around the 52 as they made their way to and from the Boardwalk ceremony.

The ceremony, a dramatic departure from those of previous years, featured all 52 contestants showcasing the fall line from designer bebe, a new pageant sponsor.

None wore sashes, crowns or anything to identify what state they were representing as they walked across a black carpet, the strains of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" blasting over loudspeakers nearby.

Later, they introduced themselves by name from the stage.

"Misty Clymer, Miss North Carolina," said Clymer.

After three other contestants, Revels stepped up.

"Rebekah Revels, Miss North Carolina," she said.

The presence of two contestants representing the same state is posing logistical and practical problems for Miss America officials, who have had to scramble for an extra casino hotel room – a scarce commodity at this time of year – and make other last-minute arrangements.

Pageant officials insist they have no special nomenclature for differentiating between Clymer and Revels. "It's Miss North Carolina and Miss North Carolina," said acting CEO George Bauer.

But one pageant volunteer was heard Sunday to refer to Clymer as "the blonde" and Revels as "the brunette," for clarity's sake.

Bauer said the flap over Miss North Carolina had taken attention away from the other contestants and the pageant itself.

"We are dedicated to having an equal playing field for each state, each contestant," he said after the ceremony. "With two contestants from one state, that's not equal for the other states."

He said there was no effort being made to keep Revels and Clymer away from each other physically, although they have been assigned to hotels far apart. Clymer is staying at Trump Taj Mahal, a long rolling chair ride from Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino.

There won't be any fighting over the crown, anyway: Pageant guidelines ban contestants from wearing their state crowns while they're in Atlantic City.

That's not all they can't do. They are not allowed to drink, smoke in public or go to parties without pageant officials' permission.

"Boardwalk" Bob Fab, who sells the glossy Miss America Pageant program books from a wooden stand on the Boardwalk, says the controversy is all anyone was talking to him about Sunday.

"They want to know why we have the first runner-up's picture here," he said, pointing to the black-and-white contestant photo array that adorns his wooden stand. "A lot of people say they should let them both in."

For now, both are.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP